...is Reflect on What's Been Done...

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

04/25/98:

The PADD Fox had directed me to described who I was suppose
to be meeting and for why. The hope was that Elena would
actually be willing to help with the Mouse.

I wasn't expecting much, Fox had made it clear her emotions
on the subject. Still one could always hope for the best in
people.

It still didn't alleviate how nervous I was about this. This
lady was not expecting me and may not be very happy for the
visit.

Bending down next to the entrance of the bar I petted Rhea
on the back of her neck. She wouldn't let me leave the house
with out her. Maybe she understood what this meant to Fox,
or maybe Fox was in control from now. Whichever it really
was it was a comfort to have her along. It felt like she was
protecting me. I hoped it wouldn't be needed.

Standing back up I took a breath, adjusting my trench coat
around my shoulders. Next to me Rhea seemed to be relaxed,
looking up at me with her ice-blue eyes.

Letting my breath out I stepped over the threshold and into
the bar. The room was only dimly lit, the most light
surrounded the bar itself. There were other, smaller,
pockets of light around the sides of the room, cast from the
occasional candle on a table.

Scanning over the booths I searched for the vixen. There
were four of them in the bar, but only one was alone. She
was the most likely one to be Elena.

Walking slowly accost the floor I saw that she had already
seen me. She slowly turned her head to watch me as I
approached, sipping her wine slowly. She didn't move or
speak until I was standing at her booth.

"Are you Elena?" I asked.

She seemed to study me with her eyes, just as I studied her.
Her face was an interesting collection of old wounds. The
first, and most noticeable, was her left ear. Rather the
torn stump that was left of it. It looked like it had been
chewed off. The other scar was not so prominent, a deep burn
scar that traveled down the length of her muzzle, also on
the left side.

Finally she nodded her head, turning back to her drink.

I slipped down into the booth on the far side from her. As I
did I let my paw drape next to where my needler was
concealed. So how I did not trust this lady.

"You would be Oriana?" She asked, her voice was husky,
almost ragged.

That was a surprise to me, "How do you know my name?"

She leaned forward, grinning at me with her teeth. From this
close I could see that they were covered with a sheen of
fresh blood. "I have my sources," she answered me. This lady
was clearly no one to be trifled with.

"Ah," I said, looking down at my side where Rhea was curled.
She had her eyes fixed on Elena, almost as if she was
looking at prey.

Elena attention was drawn to Rhea through my actions. "Nice
kitty. What's her name?"

"Rhea," I answered. A waitress appeared at my elbow then,
delivering a cup of coffee that I never ordered, but always
got when I came here. My first tip was still a famous one.

Elena smiled. "Ah. I am Elena, late of the Khatika Clan.  I
was expecting a male human, not a kitty."

I let one paw drop down to pet Rhea's ears, noting the use
of a clan name. Something Fox hadn't mentioned in the PADD.
"Fox is currently... Indisposed." I answered her, my voice
shaking, betraying to her more then I wished.

She nodded, her smile fading into a grin. "Ah, I suppose you
will do as well as he. So, you wish my answer about the the
little merchant?"

I nodded in return. "Yes."

"How much of our conversation did he tell you?" She asked,
sipping her wine again.

"Some, mostly it was in summery, but it did say that you
were once slaves and that to cooperate with a captor was a
great sin."

She scoffed. "An understatement to be sure. You know nothing
about me or my people."

I smiled. "So, why not tell me about them."

That seemed to take her aback. I didn't think she expected
to hear that question asked of her. Then carefully she
reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bundle of
cloth. Unwrapping it with the greatest care she held it into
the candle light. "Was sie wearing one of these when you
captured hir? It would have been on hir left ear."

"Yes," I answered, looking a bit closer at it. "Not of that
same designed though."

I felt Rhea twitch under my paw. I slowly starting to pet
the lioness on the back of her head. "I would prefer this to
wait until Fox returns, but I don't think we have the luxury
of time. If sie doesn't talk soon I'm afraid sie will be
killed."

"Sie would not have told you anything," The vixen said,
refolding the clothing around the ear-piece. "We would
sooner die then betray our Names."

I nodded. "Then you will not help us."

She smiled, "I do intend to help you. Though I doubt your
guest will be happy about a reception from Elena the
Devourer. But I must find out why the Senate has gotten so
desperate."

I frowned. "You think your government ordered this?"

She laughed. "Oh kitty, I *know* the Republic government is
involved."

I let out a slow sight. "Oh great, I can just see how Dwight
will take that news." Sense he was appointed head it had
become clear that he wanted some action against the Plague.
If it was accidental it would mostly to be sanctions against
the world. If it was intentional though...

Elena suddenly gave me a full toothed grin. "Would you like
to know the reason why our mousy friend hasn't told you a
thing?"

I nodded. "I thought you already had."

"Have you're friends given hir an exam?"

"I would presume the usual prison physicals." I said,
leaning back a bit in my seat.

She nodded. "Do you have any theories as to why we're
hermaphrodites?"

I shrugged. "It's not uncommon."

She leaned forward moving closer towards me. "It's because
we were *created* that way. We, the Theriamorphs were
designed to be the perfect slaves. Non-human, so we couldn't
escape and blend in with the free populace. Hermaphrodite,
so that we'd breed quickly, and so that we'd be better bed
'partners'. We were slaves of the lowest sort for centuries.
But we fought for our freedom and we got it. Since then,
we've taken our freedom *very* seriously. So seriously do we
take it, that we don't have any prisons for our criminals."

I nodded making mental notes about all of it. This would be
helpful if we ever did go to her world. Though if all of her
race were hermaphrodites hir would be more appropriate. "Fox
mentioned the last part, not the history about it."

"I never told him, but I am telling you. We will never put
another into bondage, nor will we ever accept being put into
bondage of any sort.  That is why sie told you nothing.  It
would be breaking one of our Holy Laws to cooperate in any
way with our captors."

"What then would you suggest?" I asked, "That we just let
hir go? Sie wouldn't live long enough to walk fifty feet."

"I will talk to hir." Elena said, drinking the last of hir
wine. "Sie'll be more likely to talk to me then to any of
you."

I let out a sigh, this was a step in the right direction.

Sie started to rise out of hir seat. "One more thing Miss
Oriana, be sure to tell the guild that my answer is still
'no'."

I chuckled softly. With a name such as 'The Devourer' it
would not be too far of a stretch to see hir doing some
Work. "I'll pass that on."

Sie smiled. "I will come back in one week, then you will
take me to see the mousy. Goodbye for now Oriana, and Mr.
Cutter." Sie let out a small chuckle. "I mean Rhea."

I shot up out of my seat to look hir right in the eyes. Rhea
sat contentedly on the floor, unaware of the mention of her
proper name. "How did you know that!" I demanded, hoping
that maybe sie knew how to undo the spell.

"The way your reacted every time you mentioned Fox's name."
Sie looked down at Rhea. "And the fact that the lioness here
has a beauty of a curse laid over her."

"It was meant for me." I explained, bending down to pet Rhea
between her ears.

Sie nodded. "I will see you in a week." Then left the bar,
hir tail was quivering as sie walked. Sie must have been
suppressing a lot of anger.

Rolling my head back I sank back down into the booth.
Finally sipping at my coffee, which had gone cold during the
conversation.

Under the table Rhea nuzzles against my paw. I think she
understood the frustration that I was feeling. Somehow I
felt that Elena knew something that could help Fox, anything
at all. I just wished sie would have told me.

A week maybe to late to help him. Everyday I could see there
was less and less of Fox. Through Rhea I could see that how
she understood Fox's language was getting less and less.
Some times she would just sit and look at me, twitching her
ears.

I think she was waiting to go, for Fox to finally leave her
alone so she could go out on her own. She would sit on the
end of the dock and look out at the forest around the house.
She wanted to be out there so much, even if it wasn't her
normal terrain.

With Naomi too I was worrying. When she and Rhea played it's
become rougher, sooner or later I think she will hurt the
child. I think if that happens Fox will let himself go, he
will not force Rhea to be there if it meant hurting others.

I prayed every day that Ken would find out how to fix this,
how to bring Fox back to me. I wasn't going to lose him, not
now and not ever.

"Why are you dealing with hir?" A familiar voice asked just
a few feet away.

Looking up from the table top I searched for the source of
the voice. It came from a tan colored herm vixen who was
standing at the end of the booth. Nai, sie had help us
capture the Mouse when this had all started, now almost half
a year past.

I shrugged. "Sie is going to help get the Mouse talking to
us." I answered hir.

Sie nodded, hir head seemingly bobbing on hir long neck.
"How much do you know about hir?"

"Not much, sie didn't talk about hirself. Just hir people."

Nai hummed. "I've seen hir around the base for years. I've
seen hir fight, I've seen hir eat. I even saw hir killed
once."

I sat right up in my seat and looked up at hir. "What?"

Sie frowned. "I saw hir in a fight, I saw hir shot through
the heart four times. Then a man took a knife and physical
cut hir heart from hir body. They left hir, just another
body in the hallways of Mydisia.

Nai shivered a bit, this seemed to have scared hir. "Then,
half an hour later, sie woke up. I saw hir from when I had
been watching. Sie looked right at me, hir eyes filled with
a hunger. I still remember them, I see them in my
nightmares. I ran from hir, I think that was all that saved
my life."

Sie shook hir head. "Three days later I found out someone
had ravaged the homeless population of the base. Ten of them
were killed, gutted, their bodies drained of blood. Elena is
know as the Devourer, and sie is, of your body and your
soul. Sie is a vampire, if you understand the term."

I nodded, I understood.

"So you had better watch yourself, if sie thinks you're
trying to betray hir." Sie gave me a small smile. "Sie will
devour you."

That didn't make me feel any better about all of this.

-----

This story is (c) 1998 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints
limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This
story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission
of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.
Elena is (c) 1998 by Chris Bradford.